8 December 2005

The new Government of Albania has improved the legal framework necessary to reduce the flow of trafficked children, but it must develop a national child protection system aimed at combating the poverty that drives exploitation, a United Nations human rights expert said after completing his visit to the Balkan country yesterday.

The publication is a product of the seminar on “Promoting Gender Equality to Combat Trafficking in Women and Girls”, co-organized by The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden and UNIFEM in co-operation with UNESCAP, 7-9 October 2002. It highlights key trends in trafficking; briefly reviews current initiatives to address the same; maps out the salient elements of a gender sensitive rights-based development perspective on the issue; fore-grounds key gender concerns throughout the trafficking process and suggests strategic interventions, essentially preventive strategies –economic empowerment; social protection and security; education; legislation; safe migration and transformation of attitudes and behaviour - to address the issue.